Deccan beat Pune by six wickets. Pune could only score 136/9 and the Chargers raced to 138 in 19.2 overs.
Dhawan ( 28 off 25 ) and Sohal ( 34 off 28 ) out on 67 for the first wicket. Within eight balls they departed, but Sanga ( 25 ), Duminy (23 ) and Christian ( 14 not out ) took the Chargers home.
This ended Pune's last hopes for qualifying for the play offs. Now the Chargers have ten points with a game in hand. Pune has gone out of reckoning, following their eighth loss.
The Warriors had put up a pathetic batting display, losing three wickets in seven ball midway. Though they began promisingly, with a 31 run partnership between Pandey ( 23 ) and Ryder ( 13 ) , they collapsed. They lost five for 14, three of them at 45. Amit Mishra took two wickets in two balls in his first over, after Steyn, Ojha and Chrisitan took the first three wickets.
Yuvraj played well for his 23, but he had to depart in the 15th over. At that time, the Warriors were 92/7. Mitchell Marsh struck form, scoring 37 off 28 balls, with three sixes and a four, helped Pune add 35 runs, in the company of Parnell.
Mishra, Chrisitan and Ojha picked up two wickets and the Chargers gave a fitting response with a half century opening stand. Dhawan hit two fours off Parnell and Kumar and his partner also matched his aggression. In five overs they had put on 40. Dhawan pulled Marsh for a six and then he tried to charge Yuvraj and was stumped. In 25 balls, he had scored 28, which was embellished by four boundaries. Sohal, the pint sized opener, was trapped by Sharma, after hitting two sixes and two fours. Sanga and Duminy added 33 more runs, before Sanga fell, caught behind off Sharma. Duminy was bowled by Parnell and then Deccan wanted 11 runs for victory.
Chrisitand and Chipli saw to that no damage was done. Sharma impressed everybody with two wickets and Parnell and Yuvraj claimed one each.
Meanwhile, Ashok Menaria, who scored three centuries in Ranji Trophy, is up for top league. Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid are all praise for the youngster. "He is a class act and I hope he plays for India soon" said Warne, while
Dravid batted for the temparament of the youngster. "Menaria has bee doing very well. He has played some crucial innings for us in IPL 2011 and he has a good head on his shoulders"
The batting display of Rajastan leaves much to be desired. Only three half centuries were scored by the Royal batsmen, Dravid, Botha and Rahane being the scorers.
Twelve Indian players including Valthaty, Ashwin and Irfan have signed up for the Sri Lankan Premier League.
Paul Valthaty says that fairy tale can end soon, regarding the rise of new stars fading into oblivion. Manish Pandey scored an IPL hundred, Joginder Sharma's delivery dismissed Misbah and Jadeja's exploits with the bat -- all these had faded into nothingness. Not so Valthaty. He hopes to consolidate on the reputation in the IPL 2011. "I had prepared well for this tournament, so the kind of performance that I have managed so far is not a surprise. But the response has been overwhelming. "
"How does it change me ? When I go out now, people recognise me and ask for autographs. Gilchrist was one of my heroes when I started playng and now I play well under him. I still nurture hopes of playing in the Indian team. If not for that, I wouldnt have been here".
Comments